Every occupation probably gets its stock standard questions, but as a comedian I feel it is my duty to have funny comebacks for them. I sort of work on them as though they were material, and if they are good enough I'll add them to the show. One of the FAQ's I get a lot is, do I make a living off comedy? A cheekier version of that question is do you make much money off comedy?, which tends to back me into a corner a bit more than the first version of that question. FAQT is, I don't make very much money off comedy at all. For an hourly rate it's an absolute shitload, but I seldom work more than one hour per week. But there is no feeling on earth that compares with writing, performing, then getting paid for an original joke. All the idea has to do is get a laugh. It doesn't have to be built or mass produced or packaged. It's purely ethereal. Because of this intensely satisfying feeling I get from comedy it doesn't really bother me if I have lean weeks in the bank balance department. I do occasionally pick up the odd bit of painting work here and there. Currently I'm helping a couple of mates paint their houses - one inside and one outside. It's a bit weird working for your mates, but I guess they'd rather hire someone they know, and I'd rather work for someone I know, and we've both got the contacts. There comes a point as a comedian where you do have to decide whether you have the goods to do it full time. Part of being a comedian is thinking of yourself as a comedian, and this is a realization I had at the start of this year. Funny thing is, it wasn't the first time I'd tried going full time as a comedian, it was my third. The thought dawned on me as I was waiting tables in a restaurant job I'd only started a few weeks earlier, but which my heart wasn't really in. What helped galvanize the idea was a conversation I had with another comedian backstage at the comedy club in which his response to my telling him I was waiting tables was,
"say it ain't so. Why don't you try living on weet-bix and two minute noodles just so you can do comedy full time?" To any other person this would not have been an inspiring thing to hear - maybe it was a load lightener just to hear that someone else had been through it all before.
P.s I do eat better than that!